Stark County highlights of 2013

What's news to you may not be news to your neighbor. But we've done our best to assemble some of the Stark County area highlights from 2013, listed by month.

Tim Botos CantonRep.com staff writer @tbotosREP

What's news to you?

The definition can depend on perspective, interests and values. What's news to you may not be news to your neighbor. But we've done our best to assemble some of the Stark County area highlights from 2013, listed by month.

Certainly, one of the longest-running local stories of the year was the saga over the position of Stark County Sheriff. It's a story that likely won't be complete until some time next year.

For those pleading ignorance to that one, here's a quick version:

Michael A. McDonald was too ill to take office in January. Outgoing Sheriff Timothy Swanson remained on the job instead. In February, Democratic Party leaders selected George Maier to fill McDonald's seat. Swanson, who supported someone else for the job, challenged Maier's appointment on the grounds he lacked the lawfully required background for the job. In November, the Ohio Supreme Court agreed. Maier was out and Swanson back in. Party leaders took another crack at it in December, and again selected Maier.

January

• Ailing Stark County Sheriff-elect Michael A. McDonald is physically unable to take the seat he won in November. Outgoing Sheriff Tim Swanson agrees to stay on until a successor is appointed.

• Pete Elliott, 86, a former executive director of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, dies.

• More than 220 local residents have been hospitalized since October 2012 for flu-like symptoms.

• Eight more members of Canton's Rated R street gang are charged with federal or local crimes.

• Adrian Allison, 40, is named Canton City Schools' superintendent.

• Thomas W. Swidarski is fired as president and chief executive of Diebold.

• Emil Jaroszyk, 66, of Nimishillen Township, may be deported to Germany for a crime he was convicted of 42 years ago. Months later, a judge orders a new trial and prosecutors agree to dismiss the case.

• Three Chesapeake Energy employees and a Canton Eagle Scout rescue 47-year-old Eugene Scott, of Magnolia, who fell through the ice at Atwood Lake.

• Financially-troubled Trillium Family Solutions, a social service agency, is to be acquired by Coleman Professional Services.

• A week after he's hired as director of the Canton-Stark County Crime Lab, Rick Perez resigns.

• Baby boy Austin Gerstenslager, who was turned over to his parents at the hospital to allow him to die, didn't cooperate. After 11 hours, he still was alive and now is home.

• Canton City Schools' officials announce "A Brighter Tomorrow" plan, which will include a major reconfiguration of schools.

• Mayor William J. Healy II, resigns from the Canton Community Improvement Corp. Board. It comes months after revelations he used CIC credit cards for personal uses — which he paid back, calling the whole thing an accident.

• Jackson High swimmer Chase Kinney wins state titles in the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle races.

March

• Former state high school wrestling champ Alan Aeschlimann is charged with killing his girlfriend's 2-year-old son — he's convicted later in the year.

• Good Hours, from Jackson High School, wins the 10th annual Battle of the Bands sponsored by The Repository.

• Richard Beasley, 53, of Akron, is found guilty in the murders of three men, including Timothy Kern of Stark County. The men were lured by a bogus Craigslist ad promising farmhand work.

• Ohio Supreme Court dismisses an appeal by Aultman Health Foundation in its legal battle with Mercy Medical Center. Mercy won a $6.1 million judgment in 2011, related to Aultman's payments to insurance brokers.

• Sandy Valley second-grader Walker Gonzalez is recovering from a heart transplant he received in March.

• Twice-fired Jackson Township Police officer Todd Macaluso resigns. He was accused of being drunk when he arrived to testify in a court case. Then, a week later, Police Chief David Zink is placed on leave and will resign by year's end.

• Plans announced for two hotels to be built at I-77 and Faircrest Street SW.

• The thermometer peaks at 80 degrees on April 10, breaking an 82-year-old temperature record.

• More than 90 Pro Football Hall of Fame members confirm they'll come to Canton in August for the Hall's 50th anniversary ceremony.

• The Catholic Diocese of Youngstown reconfigures its 11 Stark County elementary schools into a new Holy Cross Academy.

• Two Stark Metropolitan Housing Authority employees are fired as the agency is in the midst of a federal review.

• North Canton Hoover beats Elyria 7-0 for its third straight Division I state softball title.

• Canton Central Catholic junior Katie Mokros wins state track and field titles in both the 100- and 200-meter races.

July

• Canton Mayor William J. Healy, II makes an impromptu traffic stop of a man he said ran two stop signs.

• The U.S. Attorney's office divvies more than $1 million to area law enforcement agencies. It's their share of proceeds from the sale of a 43.5-carat diamond forfeited to authorities following a 2006 investigation of Paul Monea.

• A group of local runners unveil plans for a new marathon slated for April 27, 2014 — the Pro Football Hall of Fame Marathon & Half Marathon.

• Authorities wrest a three-foot-long alligator from the creek at Waterworks Park near downtown Canton.

• The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Inspector General releases a report critical of the Stark Metropolitan Housing Authority. It finds the agency spent $10.5 million on ineligible projects or without proper documentation in the past decade.

• Pro Football Hall of Fame festivities swing into full action during the last week of the month.

• Benny Battista, Ray Getz, Herm Jackson, Travis McGuire, Norm Nicola, Leon Powell, Jay Rohr and Justin Zwick are inducted into the Stark County High School Football Hall of Fame.

August

• Dallas defeats the Miami Dolphins 24-20 at Fawcett Stadium in an NFL exhibition, capping off the year's Pro Football Hall of Fame Festival activities.

• Fairless Local and Tuscarawas Valley Local Schools' will share a treasurer, Mark Phillips, saving the districts $30,000 each.

• Canton Police are investigating three shooting deaths within three days.

• After months of deliberations, Green High School officials announce they will join the Federal League, beginning with the 2015-16 school year.

• Annual state school report cards are released, using a new letter-grade formula — Canton City School receives five 'F's' out of nine categories.

• Lamuel Flowers, who prosecutors say was a leader of a violent Canton street gang, is sentenced to 15 years in prison for his role in what led to the 2012 killing of 17-year-old Anthony Moore, Jr.

• Ohio's new concussion law includes many new precautions for the upcoming high school football season, which opens with a Thursday night GlenOak 28-12 victory over Akron Firestone.

• The Stark County Fair opens — the grandstand act on the second day is the Oak Ridge Boys.

September

• Timken Co. directors agree to split off steel business into a publicly traded corporation — bearings and power transmission employees will remain with the existing company.

• Jackson Township Police Chief David Zink — on paid leave since April — files paperwork with the state to retire.

• Canton Fire Chief Steve Rich tells City Council that barren fire staffing is at a "danger" level.

• A local jury awards a family $375,000, after a 70-year-old man died when a power outage in 2011 shut off his breathing machine at McCrea Manor Nursing & Rehabilitation Center.

• Legendary former North Canton Hoover High football coach Don Hertler, Sr., dies.

October

• Bruno (Gioello) Gunn, a 44-year-old Central Catholic High graduate, discusses his role in the upcoming film "Hunger Games: Catching Fire."

• Gas prices briefly hover near the $3 per gallon mark, a roughly 40 cents per gallon reprieve for area motorists.

• Ohio Auditor David Yost's office announces the city of Massillon is in "fiscal emergency."

• LaFonse Dixon Jr., 34, is found guilty of the grisly 2012 murder of Celeste Fronsman.

• Diebold agrees to pay $48 million to settle allegations it bribed foreign banking officials with money, trips and gifts to advance its ATM business.

November

• LaFonse Dixon, Jr. and Katrina Culberson are sentenced to life in prison for their roles in the 2012 killing of Celeste Fronsman. A third defendant, Monica Washington, got life in prison with a chance for parole after 25 years.

• Canton Police officer Daniel Harless receives $40,000 from the city to resign as part of a legal settlement. In 2011, a video of Harless threatening a motorist went viral on the Internet.

• The Ohio Supreme Court ousts Stark County Sheriff George T. Maier because he lacked legally required background to hold the job. Former Sheriff Timothy Swanson is temporarily reinstated.

• John Wise, 68, of Massillon, is convicted of murder for shooting his ailing wife in 2012 at Akron General Medical Center. He'd believed it was a mercy killing. He was sentenced to six years in prison on a lesser charge.

• Release of numbers from a local annual homeless count reveals that 50 people were living on the streets and another 466 in emergency shelters or transitional housing in January.

• Gas prices dip to and below $3 per gallon, the lowest average in more than two years.

• Canton City Schools' officials release information on the second phase of their "A Brighter Tomorrow" plan. It includes reconfigured elementaries beginning with the next school year.

• Canton Police arrest two men, ages 18 and 19, in the shooting death of 88-year-old Eugene Render, in what police say is a burglary gone wrong.

• David Dobransky and Dick Dierick tie at 85 votes apiece for the fourth and final available slot on Waynesburg Village Council. Dobransky wins a coin-flip to earn the two-year seat.

December

• Canton City Council approves its portion of a four-way agreement to designate land in Jackson and Plain townships for shared development with Canton and North Canton.

• Former Jackson Township Police Chief David Zink will not face criminal charges, following a state investigation into his conduct. He reaches a settlement that requires him to retire and surrender his peace officer certification.

• Three area Catholic schools will undergo significant changes for the next school year: St. Joseph's will close; St. Peter's and St. Louis will become Family Preschool Centers.

• Seven high school football teams are crowned state champions at Massillon's Paul Brown Tiger Stadium and Canton's Fawcett Stadium. The state playoff finals move to Columbus next year.

• Stark County Democratic Central Committee — in a 101-65 vote — again names George T. Maier the sheriff.

• Lowell Klinefelter, dean of Stark County high school football coaches, announces his retirement after 41 seasons at the helm.

• A federal grand jury indicts Carnegie Career College founders John Richard Ceroni, 64, and Adale Marie Ceroni, 62. They are accused of conspiring to steal $2.3 million in federal student aid and spending some of the money on property, jewelry and vacations.

• Timken Co. announces plans to establish corporate offices in Jackson Township. Its headquarters for the new steel business will remain in its buildings on Dueber Avenue SW.

• Canton Mayor William J. Healy II's proposed budget for 2014 includes an additional $1.5 million for hiring police officers and firefighters.

• The Stark County Metropolitan Housing Authority board reluctantly accepts a federally-mandated recovery plan to keep the agency functioning as it exists today. It requires SMHA to fix 16 problem areas and ultimately pay itself back as much as $10.5 million.

• Wisconsin-Whitewater wallops Mount Union 52-14 to win the NCAA Division III football national title in Salem, Va.